A second Star Wars-themed attraction is opening at Disney World this week and it’s already bringing people to tears. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance will be unveiled to the public on Dec. 5 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Florida resort and will be operational at Disneyland Park in California on Jan. 17, 2020.
“We wove a fabric of an experience in Galaxy’s Edge overall…now that we’re about to open the second ride, that fabric will be complete,” Jon Georges, executive producer of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, for both Disneyland Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, told Yahoo Canada this week.
The attraction is focused on the clash between the Resistance and the First Order, including an epic face off with Kylo Ren. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance transports you right into a Star Wars spectacular. It is also the longest attraction experience in Disney history at approximately 15 minutes long.
The Resistance’s temporary encampment is on the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost on Batuu. Guests will explore the forest getting closer to the base. BB8 appears, along with Rey via holo-transmission, to welcome guests (the new Resistance recruits) and they share a plan to reunite with General Leia Organa, which must not be revealed to the First Order.
Guests start the experience on a transport shuttle alongside Poe Dameron in his Black One. The recruits journey is brought to halt when they are then captured by a nearby Star Destroyer.
Although there were some technical glitches a day before opening (something for the firsts guest to look out for) a particularly impactful moment is when the transport shuttle is pulled into a hanger bay, the doors open and guests are moved onto the Star Destroyer and come face-to-face with 50 stormtroopers.
“People…literally tear up as that door opened,” Georges said. “I watch guests faces as they come out of the transport ship in awe. That moment, I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it…we wowed people and that’s what we set out to do.”
Being chased by the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, the resistance recruits try to find a way to escape the First Order on eight-passenger First Order Fleet Transports piloted by reprogrammed R5-series astromech droids.
“It’s…a surprisingly emotional journey because the John Williams score follows you through the attraction, characters that you know and love are here,” Georges said.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance also introduces a new character, Lieutenant Bek, a Mon Calamari Resistance officer who helps the Resistance recruits.
“We imagined the planet Batuu as today…and it’s an active space port so people can come and go,” Georges said. “We really thought of the land as a flexible content platform that as new characters in the stories are introduced, anybody can visit here at any time.”
Creating a premier attraction with a dedication to storytelling was top of mind for the Walt Disney Imagineering team. They had full access to Luscasfilm Ltd. and the cast of the films, working with them while they were making movies, allowing the Imagineers to deliver the depth of storytelling present in Rise of the Resistance.
Read more: yahoo
